Tag: Holidays

Chasing dreams and … Pokemon

Summer holidays 2016 have already started for us and as a result we have been out exploring. As much as I hate to admit it this exploring has been somewhat helped by the release of Pokemon go! The opportunity to go somewhere new, set a lure, take down a gym and maybe get a new or elusive Pokemon seems to be the way to get the kids out of the house. Indeed Pixie now seems intent on leaning how to ride her bike properly so that she can join the other two (with an adult of course) on Pokemon hunts further afield. Not only can you cover more ground and collect more Pokemon on your bike but you can hatch those all important eggs.
I have taken a ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ attitude but have found the game surprisingly addictive. I’m not sure the this is a phenomenon that is going to stick around but for now it is getting the kids out of the house and actually looking at things. We have had two recent visits to parks and they actually looked at the flowers and sculptures whilst there.
One of the things we are really looking forward to is the release of the BFG, we’re going on Friday to see it and the children have already signed up to the Dahl themed summer reading scheme in the local library. Even more excitement has been created – following on from the book bench trail a couple of summers ago this year there are dream jars scattered around London. We have pencilled in a couple of dates to see as many as possible, one trail following the journey Sophie and the BFG take around the palace and Hyde Park, which Pixie is particularly excited about. We’re doing that one once we have seen the film. We’re are going to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (thanks to Kids Week) at the end of the holidays so we can find some in the Covent Garden area then. So tomorrow we’re searching around St Pauls and maybe the Southbank area too. Great to see the different jars and get the children to experience the sights of London, something we sometimes take for granted.
Thanks to Pokemon it sounds as if I need to take a picnic and find somewhere warm to sit with a Pokestop so they can catch some Pokemon but in some ways this is no bad thing. It gives us a chance to recharge our batteries and enjoy the green spaces in London as well as saving me money. Taking sandwiches and crisps is much cheaper than buying them on the go! Win! Win!
Definitely making the most of the good weather as who knows how long it will last, not long according to the forecasters and with two summer camps and a holiday booked in the days will pass by rapidly. Writing seems to be on hold (again!) but with little teaching lined up for September I have several outlined projects to progress. The kids book is nearly ready to go, just waiting on the kids to give me some feedback and do the edits and have planned on a proper working day from September setting proper deadlines for myself as otherwise I tend to just prevaricate, end up doing errands and not getting anywhere -not going to have a huge career in publishing that way!
For now I will concentrate on giving the kids a great summer holiday, before we know it it’l be gone and routine can take over, in the meantime we’ll enjoy getting out and about and hopefully having some great adventure and memories that last.

http://www.visitlondon.com/bfg

Best foot forward for the Easter Bunny

The kids are excited – tomorrow being Easter and all that brings with it school holidays and the promise of chocolate. For some reason despite constantly referencing the Easter Bunny they don’t seem to believe in his/her/ its power to steal Easter eggs as well as deliver them! Predictably as soon as the holidays began the weather changed from glorious sunshine to cloudy with occasional showers, worsening to deep snow depending how far North you were!

Despite that the holidays began quietly, filled with boring but necessary tasks such as dental check-ups all run, (thank goodness none of us had any problems!), opticians for Hpops and the confirmation that she is slightly long sighted and then a visit to the hairdressers for all so that they could be tidied up! The big two enjoyed a craft and cooking day at Bake it Make it, a business run by local mums. The kids made cornflake nests, chocolate thins, easter bunny pegs and easter wreaths which have been proudly hung on bedroom door handles and have certainly brightened the place up. Not only did they get all this with a break for lunch fitted in but the two ladies running it seemed unruffled when we collected the children and unlike my house when any kind of craft work is carried out it did not look as if a pillow had just exploded or the entire contents of the cooking cupboards spilt all over the floor!

On Thursday I aged another year – I celebrated by taking the children to Pizza Hut and then bowling where they wasted no time in absolutely thrashing me! I did redeem myself by winning an angry birds pig teddy from one of those coin hungry arcade machines, the fact that I could probably have bought the thing for about half of what we put in it was lost on the children, all that they cared about was that money went in and a teddy came out! In the evening we had a movie night and I was delighted when all three of them sat and watched the first Harry Potter film. Copious amounts of popcorn probably held but Elf really seemed engrossed in the film and even Hpops acknowledged that it was OK!

Yesterday was yet more errands and preparing for Mr T’s birthday – he celebrates today and to be honest after Elf’s football, in the cold with no cafe serving hot drinks, we’ve done very little. Watched the boat race which turned out to be very dramatic, football focus, read a little, played with the kids a little and will soon be blowing candles out from atop a muppets birthday cake – chosen by the kids of course because this year we couldn’t repeat the feat of the football cake from last year.

Marathon training is now tapering and at last the end seems to be in sight, just over two weeks to go. Last week I managed just over 20 miles and still felt relatively OK! It is nice to think that most of the hard training is done and dusted now although I am still trying to raise money for the charities I am supporting.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/melsmarathonmadness

Tomorrow is a half marathon and then lots of chocolate. This week I have been doing other preparation in terms of trying to work out how to get to the start line on race day! My initial plan to walk five minutes down the road, jump on a train to Liverpool street then switch to the tube and so on has now been disrupted due to the fact that upon checking the train timetable it appears there are engineering works taking place! After a brief panic and the discovery that all the marathon coach/breakfast packages had been booked I decided that what will have to happen is a journey into Dartford, this will take me straight into Blackheath – hopefully in plenty of time. My first goal is to offload my kitbag and get to the starting point on time rather than still be queueing for the toilet when I am supposed to be at the start, which is what happened to me at the Brentwood half a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t particularly compromise my race but had to start from the back.

The nerves are beginning to kick in as I look at the route and read all the information in the official magazine which describes what happens at the expo that has to be attended, work out what I need to take with me and even worry about who is going to stand where and try to ensure I remember all of it so I don’t just jog past and ignore them. I am hoping my GPS app will still work but knowing how many people are going to be around this is not guaranteed.

Wishing everyone a happy chocolate filled Easter!